Topic: Blues Week 2015

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Blues Week 2015 has been posted and announced now.  It will be held in Worcester this year, August 2--7, and the staff will include Woody Mann, Rick Franklin and me teaching guitar, Martin Grosswendt and Kenny Sultan teaching slide guitar, Michael Roach doing a class on guitar, and Phil Wiggins and Grant Dermody teaching harmonica.  I think it is a strong teaching staff and curriculum Michael Roach has put together for the week, and I look forward to reuniting with a number of you there.  For more information, go to:  http://www.euroblues.co.uk/bluesweek2015.php  .  I'm really looking forward to the week!
All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I'm just posting to remind folks what a strong line-up there will be at Blues Week 2015, which will be held in Worcester, in England, from August 2-7 this year.  Faculty will include Woody Mann, Martin Grosswendt, Kenny Sultan, Rick Franklin, Michael Roach and me for guitarists, and Phil Wiggins and Grant Dermody teaching harmonica.  I know that a number of folks who regularly attend the camp are slide players and enthusiasts, and for those people I can tell you that Martin Grosswendt will be worth the price of admission.  He is the strongest present-day player in the style of Blind Willie Johnson that I have ever heard (including Ry Cooder), and is  very strong player of conventionally fretted guitar, too, and a very fine singer.  Woody will be a first timer on staff, and he always has some different things to offer than are available from other teachers.  Go to:  http://www.euroblues.co.uk/bluesweek2015.php for more information, or to sign up. 

I've always had fun teaching at this event, and I've got a really good feeling about this year.  I hope to see you there, and if some of you European Weenies from countries other than Great Britain could make it, that would be great.  Hope to see you there!
All best,
Johnm

[Zoharbareket]

Hi,

sounds really great!

I will be visiting England in august and i'd love to come up to the Blues Week. I think I can probably come for at least one day. However, I do not drive in England... if anyone reading this post is planning to drive from Oxford to Worcester, I'd love to join the ride!

Thanks!

Z

[Johnm]

Sorry to be slow responding to this.  I hope you can make it to Blues Week for at least one day, Zohar.  It would be nice to meet you in person and have a chance to hear you sing and play.  And for any of you who have been considering attending, but haven't signed up yet, I hope you'll come along.  It's always a good time, with an enthusiastic learning and playing environment. 
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I just arrived home last night, returning from Blues Week.  The event was a lot of fun for me, and I hope, for the participants.  It was good to reunite with long-time friends and participants and hear how their music has grown since I was last there, two summers ago.  There were many new participants, and it was exciting to see the event through their eyes and absorb some of their energy.  The harmonica classes were very, very strong, with Phil Wiggins and Grant Dermody providing the instruction.  Martin Grosswendt was a real hit with the slide players, and Rick Franklin and Kenny Sultan provided solid continuity with the feel of past years and sound instruction.  Woody Mann was missed, especially by those students who had particularly looked forward to studying with him, but Sonny Black was very generous with his time and appreciated by those who studied with him, and Duck Baker offered his deep knowledge and unique perspective on the music and arranging.  Worcester is a beautiful city and was fun to explore a little bit.  Of course, some absences were felt among the long-time attendees, folks who either could not make it, or chose not to attend, but I hope to see them in the future. 
My own classes were fun to teach, and I was especially impressed by how quickly the people were able to pick up the songs I was teaching by ear.  In the beginning-intermediate class, I focused on recognition and playing of commonly-encountered blues forms in a variety of keys, and by the end of the week the class had covered a lot of ground, including playing turn-arounds in E, A, D, G and C in standard tuning.  The arranging class was helped by having been taught the previous week at Port Townsend for the first time the week before, and making a few tweaks to class design, having a better-informed sense of how far it was realistic to go in the course of the week.  Students were very game and consistently came up with interesting and inventive solutions in their own arrangements. 
Congratulations to Michael Roach for putting together such a strong program and for bringing it off again, and I look forward to more Blues Weeks in the future.
All best,
Johnm

[harvey]

Thanks to you John, lessons up to your usual very high standard, they have helped me renew my enthusiasm which was reducing before the week.


Also Martin was great ! Really enjoyed his company and playing.

The location was great I agree 

Thanks again hope to see you soon

Andrew